Apple has Finally Given Us a $99 Small Smart Speaker for the Masses: A Review of the HomePod Mini

The wait is finally over, and Apple has released its smallest smart speaker yet, the HomePod Mini. Priced at an affordable $99, this compact device promises to bring the company's signature sound quality to any room in your home. As someone who's been waiting for what feels like an eternity for a smaller version of Apple's smart speaker, I'm excited to dive into my experience with the HomePod Mini and see how it stacks up against its competitors.

The HomePod Mini features a sleek design that's both familiar and compact. The device is available in white or space gray, and its rounded shape makes it easy to place on any shelf or table. One of the standout features of the HomePod Mini is its backlit touch surface for volume and Siri controls. This allows you to easily adjust the volume without having to get up from your seat, making it a convenient addition to the device.

In terms of audio capabilities, the HomePod Mini delivers on Apple's promise of delivering high-quality sound. The device features a custom full-range driver and dual force canceling passive radiators that work together to produce clear and balanced audio. When paired with AirPlay, the HomePod Mini is capable of producing rich and detailed sound that fills an entire room. While it may not have the same level of bass as some other smart speakers on the market, the HomePod Mini makes up for it with its precise treble and clear mid-range.

One of the most convenient features of the HomePod Mini is its ability to hand off your iPhone's audio to the speaker. Simply hold your phone near the device, and you can seamlessly switch between listening to music or taking calls. This feature is made even more enjoyable by the Haptic feedback that Apple has implemented in the device. The subtle vibrations of the speaker add a tactile element to the experience, making it feel almost like having a physical interaction with the device.

Another useful feature of the HomePod Mini is its integration with CarPlay. Ask Siri about store hours or the nearest location, and the device will display directions on your car's screen. This makes it easy to plan your day without having to take your eyes off the road. Apple has also touted the privacy of the HomePod Mini, stating that Siri requests are anonymous and encrypted.

The HomePod Mini is not without its drawbacks, however. One of the most notable omissions from the device is support for popular music services like Spotify or YouTube Music. While Amazon Music integration is on the way, it's unclear when exactly it will arrive. Additionally, the number of compatible devices for Apple's HomeKit smart home platform is relatively low compared to other platforms like Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

In terms of competition, the HomePod Mini goes head-to-head with some of the best small smart speakers on the market. The Amazon Echo Dot and Nest Mini are both similarly priced at $50, but the HomePod Mini's audio capabilities give it an edge in terms of sound quality. However, when comparing the HomePod Mini to devices like the Sonos One or Bose SoundLink Color II, the HomePod Mini falls short due to its smaller size and limited bass response.

Despite some drawbacks, the HomePod Mini is a solid addition to Apple's smart speaker lineup. Its compact design, impressive audio capabilities, and convenient features make it an excellent choice for anyone looking to upgrade their home audio system. While it may not be the best option for those after broader smart home integration or support for popular music services, the HomePod Mini is definitely worth considering for its value alone.

The HomePod Mini joins a crowded market of small smart speakers that are vying for dominance in the space. With its affordable price point and impressive audio capabilities, Apple has certainly given itself a strong contender for the title of best compact smart speaker.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enapple has finally given us a 99 small smart speaker for the masses 99 that's like the cheapest thing apple makes unless you count iphone accessories that used to be free this is the homepod mini and we're reviewing it now the original homepod showed up two years after the first echo dot and it feels like we've been waiting on apple's smaller smart speaker since the dawn of time now that it's finally here it feels like all that waiting might have actually paid off homepod mini sounds great and it lives up to nearly all my smart speaker expectations like the original homepod the mini features a backlit touch surface for volume and siri controls and a familiar fabric wrapped around the speaker it's available in white or space gray no news there the homepod mini does have some useful audio features intercom lets you send messages to other smart speakers in your home multi-room audio means you can play your favorite song everywhere two homepod minis can be paired for stereo sound and you can use them as the audio output for your apple tv thanks to airplay too that might not beat a custom surround sound system but i'm willing to bet it's a definite improvement over your tv's stock speakers like homepod you can hand off your iphone's audio to a homepod mini by holding the phone over the speaker this might be the most fun homepod mini feature it's so nice to be able to swap speakers without tapping or asking siri and that haptic feedback makes everything feel just a little bit magical another convenient integration is carplay ask your homepod mini about store hours or the nearest store location and an apple carplay integration will display directions when you get into your car as always apple touts privacy with the homepod mini siri requests are anonymous and encrypted so nothing is tied to your apple id homepod mini is also equipped with a u1 ultra wideband chip that can locate and communicate with other chip devices more accurately than bluetooth or wi-fi an update later this year will make use of that hardware and an even faster handoff experience between phones and speakers homepod mini comes with a wider range of music streaming options but there's still no sign of spotify or youtube music amazon music integration is happening but no word yet on an exact date the homepod mini joins a large pack of contenders for just 50 you could buy a similarly sized nest mini or amazon echo dot and if that hundred dollars is really burning a hole in your pocket and you just got to spend it on a smart speaker you could buy amazon's latest echo or the new nest audio from google comparing the sound between the homepod mini and the competition's 100 speakers is kind of unfair a larger speaker is obviously gonna give you bigger sound so let's listen to what the homepod mini sounds like compared to the echo dot and the nest mini when it comes to pure volume the echo dot might be the loudest but there's distortion and the nest mini doesn't have nearly the base or the volume of the other two speakers meanwhile the homepod mini does a good job of balancing audio there's plenty of bass without sacrificing clarity let's listen one more time with an acoustic track so this one is a lot closer the echo dot didn't have as much distortion and the nest mini sounded clear but the homepod mini still sounded the best why is that well a few reasons homepod mini has a custom full range driver and dual force canceling passive radiators apple has its own algorithm for computational audio that tunes music for the room the speaker is in it also has what apple calls an acoustic wave guide that channels audio so the homepod mini sounds the same all the way around speaker even though homepod mini does sound great it's not the clear winner for best small smart speaker there are popular music services missing and siri still isn't as good as other voice assistants then there's homekit homepod mini is a home kit hub but the number of compatible devices is low compared to other smart home platforms at twice the price of other small smart speakers homepod mini needs to be worth that extra cash for apple enthusiasts it will be especially if you have an iphone or an apple tv or already owned the original homepod and you want to expand your smart speaker system but if you're after broader smart home integration google and amazon's pint-sized offerings are still the best deal out there thanks for watching be sure and give us a thumbs up if you like this video and subscribe to our channel for more and you didn't even mention in this whole video that that thing looks like an apple it's actually more like a navel orangeapple has finally given us a 99 small smart speaker for the masses 99 that's like the cheapest thing apple makes unless you count iphone accessories that used to be free this is the homepod mini and we're reviewing it now the original homepod showed up two years after the first echo dot and it feels like we've been waiting on apple's smaller smart speaker since the dawn of time now that it's finally here it feels like all that waiting might have actually paid off homepod mini sounds great and it lives up to nearly all my smart speaker expectations like the original homepod the mini features a backlit touch surface for volume and siri controls and a familiar fabric wrapped around the speaker it's available in white or space gray no news there the homepod mini does have some useful audio features intercom lets you send messages to other smart speakers in your home multi-room audio means you can play your favorite song everywhere two homepod minis can be paired for stereo sound and you can use them as the audio output for your apple tv thanks to airplay too that might not beat a custom surround sound system but i'm willing to bet it's a definite improvement over your tv's stock speakers like homepod you can hand off your iphone's audio to a homepod mini by holding the phone over the speaker this might be the most fun homepod mini feature it's so nice to be able to swap speakers without tapping or asking siri and that haptic feedback makes everything feel just a little bit magical another convenient integration is carplay ask your homepod mini about store hours or the nearest store location and an apple carplay integration will display directions when you get into your car as always apple touts privacy with the homepod mini siri requests are anonymous and encrypted so nothing is tied to your apple id homepod mini is also equipped with a u1 ultra wideband chip that can locate and communicate with other chip devices more accurately than bluetooth or wi-fi an update later this year will make use of that hardware and an even faster handoff experience between phones and speakers homepod mini comes with a wider range of music streaming options but there's still no sign of spotify or youtube music amazon music integration is happening but no word yet on an exact date the homepod mini joins a large pack of contenders for just 50 you could buy a similarly sized nest mini or amazon echo dot and if that hundred dollars is really burning a hole in your pocket and you just got to spend it on a smart speaker you could buy amazon's latest echo or the new nest audio from google comparing the sound between the homepod mini and the competition's 100 speakers is kind of unfair a larger speaker is obviously gonna give you bigger sound so let's listen to what the homepod mini sounds like compared to the echo dot and the nest mini when it comes to pure volume the echo dot might be the loudest but there's distortion and the nest mini doesn't have nearly the base or the volume of the other two speakers meanwhile the homepod mini does a good job of balancing audio there's plenty of bass without sacrificing clarity let's listen one more time with an acoustic track so this one is a lot closer the echo dot didn't have as much distortion and the nest mini sounded clear but the homepod mini still sounded the best why is that well a few reasons homepod mini has a custom full range driver and dual force canceling passive radiators apple has its own algorithm for computational audio that tunes music for the room the speaker is in it also has what apple calls an acoustic wave guide that channels audio so the homepod mini sounds the same all the way around speaker even though homepod mini does sound great it's not the clear winner for best small smart speaker there are popular music services missing and siri still isn't as good as other voice assistants then there's homekit homepod mini is a home kit hub but the number of compatible devices is low compared to other smart home platforms at twice the price of other small smart speakers homepod mini needs to be worth that extra cash for apple enthusiasts it will be especially if you have an iphone or an apple tv or already owned the original homepod and you want to expand your smart speaker system but if you're after broader smart home integration google and amazon's pint-sized offerings are still the best deal out there thanks for watching be sure and give us a thumbs up if you like this video and subscribe to our channel for more and you didn't even mention in this whole video that that thing looks like an apple it's actually more like a navel orange\n"